Zuiderzeemuseum, Enkhuizen, Netherlands (April 2009)

This museum has an indoor part with some historical costumes and boats, which are currently shown as contrast and inspiration for modern clothing and jewelry design. It's interesting for a room or two, but not what we were after.

What we wanted to see was at the living museum outside. It has rare, old breeds of livestock, craftsmen plying antique trades such as barrel making, and old buildings from elsewhere in The Netherlands that were spared demolition during redevelopment by moving them here. One of the museum workers offered us a tour in a flat-bottomed boat and pointed out things we wouldn't have realized without him. For example, where the town is divided by a canal, one side represents old North Holland and the other old Friesland.

Two things we learned are—the sails on the classic Dutch sailboats are brown because they tanned them to preserve them, and some homes used to collect naturally occurring methane and burn it for fuel.